Description

This practice provides general procedures to be used when exposing nonmetallic materials in accelerated test devices that use laboratory light sources.

Scope

This practice provides general procedures to be used when exposing nonmetallic materials in accelerated test devices that use laboratory light sources. Detailed information regarding procedures to be used for specific devices are found in standards describing the particular device being used. For example, detailed information covering exposures in devices that use carbon-arc, xenon-arc, and fluorescent UV light sources are found in Practices G152, G153, and G154, and G154 respectively.

• Note 1--Carbon-arc, xenono-arc, and fluorescent UV exposures are also described in Practices G23, G26, and G53 which described very specific equipment designs. Practices G152, G153, and G154, and G 154 are performance based standards that replace Practices G23, G26, and G53

This practice also describes general performance requirements for devices used for exposing nonmetallic materials to laboratory light sources. This information is intended primarily for producers of laboratory accelerated exposure devices.

This practice provides information on the use and interpretation of data from accelerated exposure tests. Specific information about methods for determining the property of a nonmetallic material before and after exposure are found in standards describing the method used to measure each property. Information regarding the reporting of results from exposure testing of plastic materials is described in Practice D5870.

• Note 2--Guide G141 provides information for addressing variability in exposure testing of nonmetallic materials. ASTM Committee G3 is developing a standard guide for application of statistics to exposure test results.
• Note 3--This standard is technically equivalent to ISO 4892, Part 1.

This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.